Lies That Bind
by 1heart1chance
Summary: NCIS is back at another mystery and there's a hint of love in the air. The death of a seemingly nobody opens up to a bigger mystery where the mystery isn't outside but within. Please read and Review.
1. Chapter 1

Lies That Bind

31/08/2008 14:59:00

Lies That Bind

Chapter 1: I

The elevator dinged open as she stepped out into the lobby of one of Manchester's finest and newest hotels. Her heels clicked on the marble tiles floor as she made her way towards the revolving doors, walking at a pace no different than the people around her. After she entered the doors, spun around and exited, a cool spring breeze rather than a doorman welcomed her. She sauntered down the staircase, sliding her hand down and over the gold painted railings, while taking a ring of keys out from her over coat, which flared with every step. She paused to scan the side of the street for a silver C- Class, C350 Sport Sedan, Mercedes Benz. She walked towards the car as she unlocked it and slid, with ease into the front seat. She checked her watch as she revved the engine. 1:30. Not checking the oncoming traffic, she peeled out of the side street stall, nearly hitting another car who cussed as he jammed his foot on the break. She waved her hand out the window as if to say sorry and continued on her way. As she came to a slow halt at a red light two intersections away, she checked her watch again, :23. The make-up she used to cover the dark rings around her eyes were beginning to rub off, she noticed, turning the rearview mirror towards her. She let her dark raven hair flow down her shoulders as she removed her brown bob-cut wig and turned the mirror back to its original position. She looked at her watch one last time. :06.

"5…4…3," She said counting down and looking back through the mirror at the building she just left watching people walk by with dates or families, smiling and laughing. "…2…1." The light in front of her turned green and she raced off down the street as an explosion erupted from the hotel. Flames stretched out and reached for the almost cloudless, full moon, sprinkled with stars night sky, as smoke clogged the air and rubble and glass were thrown all over the street and sidewalk. People ran, screamed, shouted, stopped driving and emptied out other buildings and bars nearby as they gathered in a group a safe distance away from the scene as sirens filled the silent night.

As she continued on her way, she heard the sirens too and a small smirk crept onto her face. Again she reached into her pocket, but this time she brought out a badge and clipped it onto her pants.


	2. Chapter 2

Lies That Bind

31/08/2008 14:59:00

Chapter 2: II

"What took you so long?" She asked snapping photos of pieces of a dead charred body that were flung into the corners of the room during the explosion. Fire extinguishers could still be heard as little flames popped up every so often, with the crackle, snap and pop of fragments being crushed by feet.

"I was sleeping," He said, shivering in his coat. It was quite drafty with the street sidewall almost fully deteriorated, gone with the force of the explosion.

"So was I," She said turning and blinding him with the flash of the camera.

"Agh," He said shielding his eyes. "What was that?" She was about to answer until their boss passed the door flung against the opposite hallway wall, and walked in.

"What do we got?" He asked in a gruff voice as he sipped a cup of coffee, shuffled under the yellow tape and used a flashlight to watch his step.

"We have a dead body with no ID. The explosion compromised most of the evidence." She said as she stopped taking pictures.

"Just bag and tag whatever you can Ziva. Tony, since you were too tired to come earlier and help Ziva, I want you to go downstairs and talk to the staff of the hotel. Try to find anything you can, including this persons' ID."

"Boss? I know I'm late, but what about McGee?"

"He's looking over the security tapes." Their boss said, walking further into the crime scene.

"What happened here Jethro?" The medical examiner asked, rolling in with a gurney, passing Tony on his way out.

"I don't know Duck." Jethro said with a heavy sigh, taking another sip of his coffee. He walked near the edge of the blown out wall and looked down. People were crowding at the bottom, looking up at the scene as vans from various news stations closed in. Stations turned on their cameras and tried to inch their way past police crews as curious spectators flashes went off. He sighed again and rubbed his temple. This was not what he needed at 2:34 in the morning.  
Ducky knelt beside the head of the body.

"What happened to you?" He asked adjusting his glasses, not believing that humans would do this to each other. He laid the pieces together in a pile. Some of the skin was charred black and easily flaked off with the lightest of touches while some parts were still red and oozing with puss. The hair was singed and the clothes on the corpse stuck to the flesh. The only thing intact from the explosion was the jaw. "Mr. Palmer, " He called to his assistant, "Please help me to get these body parts on to the gurney."

"Right away Ducky." Palmer said coming to aid Ducky in lifting the torso. Palmer cringed as the not so sweet burnt scent filled his nostrils.

"Something wrong Mr. Palmer?"

"No," Palmer said, as they reached for the legs, "I just don't really like the smell of burnt objects. Doesn't it bother you?"

"Well, Mr. Palmer, as a medical examiner, you will just have to get used to it," Ducky said. He sighed a heavy sigh as he lifted the last of the body. "See you back at the lab, Jethro," He called out as he and Palmer rolled out of the crime scene, passing Ziva who was trying to find and collecting evidence.

She bent down and picked up a shell casing after taking photos of it and spotting it near the base of a wall.

"I found a shell casing Gibbs." She said examining the metallic hollowed out cylinder. She bagged it. It was the only piece of evidence that she could find with her eyes half open and her brain half asleep, in a room with only faint lighting shining from a few lanterns, flashlights and the full moon.

"Its more than nothing," He said turning to face her, "Why don't you go downstairs and help Tony."

"Sure." As she turned and left, he used his flashlight to look at the room some more. The queen size bed was tattered and the wood frame was now shrapnel and splinters in the floors, ceiling and walls. So were the wooden drawers, sliding closet door and desk. The 36" TV screen was punctured inward, with a web of cracks leading everywhere as its back was smashed against the wall, leaving a mark there too. Picture frames that hung proudly as a decoration now were shattered and scattered across on the burnt carpet floor along with the fragments of light bulbs. The victims' suitcase was literally turned inside out as their black-coated clothing littered the room. The wall dividing the room from the bathroom was gone and the shower curtain was now a pile of dust, clogging the bathtub. The showerhead and faucet were bent, sprinkling little bits of water while the toilet stood proud, with its seat slightly lodged to the side and soot covering its then white plastic. It was pretty much the only thing that was still usable. Gibbs smiled to himself, thinking how its funny that the toilet was the only thing that survived the explosion.

Downstairs, Tony was just finishing up interviewing the front desk clerk and the manager.

"Thank you for your time," He said as they walked away and Ziva met up with him.

"What did you find?" She asked rubbing her eyes. Tony flipped through his pages of footnotes.

"His name was Joseph Scott. He arrived here a week ago and he was supposed to leave in two days."

"Do they have a picture?"

"No.

"Why was he here?"

"I don't know, and neither did any of the staff. But they did say that there was a conference in town. Maybe that's why our guy was here."

"Was he with anyone?" Ziva asked as they began to make their way toward a table in the lobby.

"They don't know. Too many guests."

"Well maybe McGee had more luck." She said sitting down on a comfortable green lounge chair, relaxing and resting her eyes and body

McGee leaned back in a black computer chair as film from the hotel security played over on a screen. There had been nothing. He was going on and on, looking for nothing. He didn't know what the victim looked like, or what he was wearing. When they found the body, his clothes were indistinguishable and his face was definitely not recognizable. The screen seemed to play the same thing, nothing happened, nobody ran, nobody slinked around abnormally. He sighed as more tape played back and Gibbs barged in.

"McGee, what do you got?" He asked coming over McGee's shoulder as he sat up straight.

"Nothing boss. I don't even know what I'm looking for."

"Anything McGee."

"Right." He knew that, but it was no use.

"Well, now, stop the tape and pack it up so you can review it with Abby when we get back."

"Right away boss." McGee said stopping the DVD and placing it into a case. He followed his boss back into the lobby where Tony and Ziva were waiting for them.

"Tony, please tell me you got something." Gibbs said, not waiting for Tony and Ziva to stand up.

"Actually I did boss. Joseph Scott." Tony said catching up.

"When we get back to the office I want you and Ziva to find out as much as you can about this Joseph and McGee, I want you to work with Abby and go over the tapes again. Got it?" He asked stopping and turning around to face his team.

"Got it." They said in unison.


	3. Chapter 3

Lies That Bind

31/08/2008 14:59:00

Chapter 3: III

As soon as they returned back to the office and recovered from Ziva's fast and furious driving, they immediately went to their assigned jobs. Gibbs went downstairs to Ducky.

"Yes Duck?"  
"Well, as you probably know, the explosion burned the hands beyond recognition and erased any chance of recovering his finger prints, and singed his head and hair so we cant go with DNA, so I made a mold of his teeth and ran it up to Abby."

"Is that all Duck?" Gibbs asked jokingly.

"I also confirmed the shell casing on the floor." Ducky said walking over and picking up a round plastic case holding a slightly smashed bullet.

"Thank you." Gibbs said walking out of the autopsy room.

"If I find anything else, I'll call you." Ducky called out as the autopsy doors slid shut behind Gibbs. He rode the elevator to Abby's lab.

"I was just about to call you," She said when she first noticed Gibbs walk in. He handed her the bullet and a huge drink filled with caffeine. "Thanks Gibbs. So, me and McGee were looking over the video when Palmer came in and handed me a jaw mold."

"Where is McGee?" Gibbs asked cutting in.

"Bathroom. So anyway," Abby continued," We stopped for a little while and ran the mold against all of the systems. And guess what?"

"Abs."

"Oh. Come Gibbs, guess." Abby whined as Gibbs just stared at her. "Fine, you're no fun. You victim isn't Joseph Scott. He is really an ex cop named Michael David, worked for the Police force in Concord." Abby exclaimed pulling a photo up on her computer screen

"Then who is Joseph Scott?" Gibbs asked.

"I don't know, but your guy Michael David disappeared off this planet about a year ago."

"Ok, but who is Joseph Scott?

"Who's who?" McGee asked coming back into Abby's lab a little confused.

"Never mind McGee," Gibbs said dragging him out of the lab.

"Where are we going?"

"Going to see what Tony and Ziva found out.

--

"This is weird Tony," Ziva said looking across the office at her partner. She was reviewing their victims, Joseph Scotts' records. "Joseph Smith didn't seem to exist until a year ago. I've got bank statements, phone records, and he just seemed to mysteriously appear last year."

"I'm with you on that Ziva," Tony said not looking away from his computer.

"Tony," Ziva said raising her voice and catching his attention. "What are you doing?"

"Researching."

"Our victim?" Ziva asked getting up from her desk.

"Um." Ziva came around to his side of his desk.

"Aha! I knew you weren't doing work. What kind of research is this?" She asked looking at his screen.

"Cars, Ziva," Tony said emphasizing the A.

"Is this what you like to do?" Ziva asked in a chuckle.

"What do you like to do Tony?" Gibbs asked charging into the office from the elevator with McGee on his heels.

"I uh, like to solve cases boss," Tony said quickly.

"Really Tony?" Gibbs asked sarcastically. "What do you got?"

"Well," Ziva said cutting in, covering for Tony's lack of work. "Joseph Scott didn't exist until a year ago." She transferred a picture on her computer to a large screen sitting in the middle of the office.

"That's not Joseph Scott," Gibbs said looking at the screen. The team sent quizzical looks to each other in Gibbs' pause. "That's Michael David."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: IV

Chapter 4: IV

"Whose Michael David?" McGee asked.

"An ex cop that worked for the Concord PD who disappeared around the same time, Joseph Scott appeared. I want you and Tony," Gibbs said talking to Ziva, "To go and ask questions down at the department. McGee I want you to try and get any other information on this guy." Gibbs said leaving the office again.

"Where you going?" Ziva asked.

"To see the director," He replied going up stairs to the director's office. "Get going you two," Gibbs said noticing Ziva and Tony not moving from the last place he saw them. Tony sprung his chair back to its original position, grabbing his gun and badge as Ziva returned to her desk to do the same.

" I guess I'll drive," She said, grabbing the keys from Tony's hand,

"Oh no. I don't think so," Tony said snatching it back, "Not since every time you drive, I felt like I went on a roller coaster. I'll drive."

"Fine," She said smiling as they entered the elevator. "Let's just see how good you are."

They reached the Manchester Police Department safe and no signs of whiplash.

"See Ziva, that's how people are normally supposed to drive." Tony said opening the door for her.

"I saw an old woman pass you… on a bicycle." She said walking up to the front desk.

"She was in very good shape and pedaling very fast." Ziva looked at Tony and then turned to speak to a woman in uniform, chewing a piece of gum and reading a book.

"Excuse me," Ziva said getting the woman's attention leaning against the counter. "Where is your homicide department?" The woman looked up.

"Third floor." She said pointing to the elevator.

"Thank you." Ziva said walking towards the elevator following Tony.

"At least no one gets hurt when I drive." Tony said trying to pick up where they left off on their last conversation, entering the elevator.

"Tony, if I say that you're a better driver than me, will you just shut up?"

"Maybe," he said as the elevator opened, smirking a bit as he playfully nudged her in the side. He liked toying with her, irritating her. That was the type of their relationship.

"Hi, we're with the FCIS," Ziva said flashing her badge as Tony did the same to the Chief of the department, walking into his office.

"May I help you?"

"We wanted to talk to you about one of your agents, Michael David."  
"Michael David? Why? What happened?" Ziva looked at Tony and debated whether to tell the chief what happened.

"His body was found at a crime scene in Manchester."

"What?" The chief asked standing up.

"I'm sorry chief," Tony said, waiting for the chief to calm down a bit. "Now that you know what happened to him, can you please tell me anything about him. Anything?"

"Let's see, he retired and disappeared about a year ago." The chief said sitting back down.

"Well, do you know any information like where he went, what caused him to leave?"

"No, all I know was that his hard work, smile and enthusiasm was greatly missed. That Michael never stopped working until the case was closed."

"Anything about his personal life?" Ziva asked while writing down what the chief just said.

"No. Sorry. But you might want to check with his brother over there." The chief said pointing out a glass window. "He probably knows more about Michael. Maybe he can be of more help."

"Thank you, chief."

"No problem. You don't mind conducting the interview in here do you? I don't really want word to spread, we kind of have too much on our plates to have a death as a distraction."

"No, we don't mind at all." Tony said as the chief stood up. He went to the door.

"Mathew." He called. "Please come in here for a second." Mathew put down the papers he was looking at and walked over to the chief's office.

"Mathew David," He immediately said towards Ziva, shaking her hand, after walking in the room. His smile was big and his eyes gleamed with excitement, unbeknownst to what was going to come.

"FCIS. Special agent Tony DiNozzo." Tony said cutting in.

"Can I help you?" He asked.

"We need to talk to you about your brother."

"Michael? Have you seen him?"

"Sort of. We found his body down in a crime scene in Manchester."

"What?" Mathew exclaimed out of shock. He began to pace the room. "No, it can't be, it can't be him." He said as his shock soon turned into denial.

"Mathew, we're sorry for your loss." Tony said, trying to calm him down.

"Are you sure it's him?"

"Yes," Ziva added, "We took his dental records and matched it to the body we found." Mathew sat down.

"My brother is dead? How?"

"He was killed in an explosion." Mathew sent a quizzical look to both Tony and Ziva. "We are currently trying to put the pieces to together."

"Why would my brother be in a explosion?" Mathew whispered to himself.

"Look, Mathew," Tony said, "If we are to catch your brother's killer, we need to know a few things from you. Are you ready to answer a few questions?" Mathew paused for a little bit.

"Yeah."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4: IV

Short Chapter… but necessary… a little graphic.

Chapter 5: V

A brightly lit elevator dinged as it opened to the third floor of an apartment building right outside of D.C. The carpet-lined floor of the hallway muffled two sets of footprints as two men stepped out of the elevator and casually walked down to room 337. The smell of freshly baked sausage, olive, onion, spinach and tomato thin crust pizza filled the then odorless hallway. As they reached apartment 337, the pizza delivery boy knocked on the shiny mahogany door and said

"Pizza Delivery," as the other man hid out of view from the peephole. Inside the apartment, there was foot steps nearing the door coupled with the mans shout,

"Coming!" He looked through the peephole. Seeing the familiar red hat of his favourite pizza parlor and smelling the sweet fragrance of his own creation, he unlocked the dead bolt, slid the chain off the latch and opened the door with a smile only to have it quickly turned into a worried look as he stared down the barrel of a silencer attached to a Walther's PF 38 and the pizza he ordered smashed by the body of the pizza boy and covered with blood oozing from the poor boy's forehead. There was no time for words, no time for a scream. Jump-started from the back of the gun, the bullet sprang through the titanium chamber and out through the silencer, lodging itself in the victims forehead, right between his eyebrows, making no more noise than a whisper. The killer caught the body as it started to crumple and laid it down back inside the apartment, making sure that none of the blood flowing from the fresh wound got on him. He dragged the other boy body in too. A bloodstain was left on the carpet right outside the apartment. After thinking about it for a while, he went back inside the apartment and grabbed a mat on the floor of the kitchen and placed it in front of the apartment, covering the stain. He smiled as he looked at his ingenious cover-up. He closed the door as he checked his watch, time to spare. He left the building through the side staircase and emerged on to the street through a small door on the side of the building.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 4: IV

Chapter 6: VI

Michael David's funeral was supposed to be small, but word of mouth got out and people came from all over Concord to pay their respects to a man who served their community.

"We are gathered here today to pay our respects and honor Michael David's life." The FCIS team was sitting near Mathew in the front. He was the only family there, for their parents had passed away a few years back. His face was grim as the light inside shadowed his face. He was looking at his brother's ashes, surrounded by pictures of them together, smiling laughing, enjoying the moment. Roses and other assorted flowers adorned the table where the box of ashes stood.

"We would now like to invite his brother, Mathew David to say a few words." Mathew slowly went up, trying to prolong his speech as if, once he spoke about his brother in past tense, then he would really be dead, really gone from his life. Mathew unfolded a sheet of paper he took out from his jacket. He spoke with pride about his brother, telling of his brother's greatest moments. As he was about to finish, Gibbs got a call on his cell phone. He hesitated to pick it up, got up and carefully walked outside.

"Thank you for coming here today," Mathew said finishing up. "I know my brother would have been happy to know that so many people cared about him." Gibbs walked back in as people began to slowly began to form a line to give their condolences to Mathew and say a few parting words to Michael.

"We got to go," Gibbs whispered to his team.

"Yeah. Ok. Let me just say goodbye to Mathew." Ziva said getting up. She walked over to him. "I'm sorry," She said hugging him.

"Thank you for coming," He said breathing deep.

"Anytime."

"I'm sorry too," Tony said breaking up the hug, offering his hand. Mathew and Ziva let go of each other as Mathew took Tony's hand and shook it.

"Yeah me too." McGee said. Gibbs just slapped Mathew on the back and smiled as he followed his team out.

--

"FCIS." Gibbs said to one of the policemen standing at the front of the crime scene, flashing his badge.

"Watch you step," The policeman replied pointing to the bodies near the entrance.

"Woah," Ziva said as she turned away and tried to fan clean air near her nostrils as a big whiff of decaying bodies and getting rotten pizza flooded the air.

"Wow." Tony said looking at the crime scene, carefully stepping over the bodies, holding his nose too.

"What, too much blood?' Ziva asked jokingly not mentioning the real stinky problem at hand.

"No," Tony said protecting his dignity in a nasally. "I'm just shocked that someone would actually let a perfectly good pizza go to waste." Tony said kneeling by the box.

"Tony." Gibbs said making Tony look up.

"Sorry boss. Just Hungry." Ziva laughed at the situation as McGee took photos of Tony peering into the box.

"You know Ziva, you and Mathew seem to have something going on there."

"What are you jealous?" She asked walking around the crime scene looking at the apartment.

"No. I just don't think he's your type."

"Not my type? How do you know what my type is?"

"Hey are you two going to get working or will McGee have to do it all?" Gibbs said before Tony could answer.

"Working boss." Tony replied. Ziva looked at him and slightly shook her head. He always turns it off so quick. They could be having a meaningful conversation and then all of a sudden just completely switch off and act as if nothing happened. They liked to flirt, but that was all, nothing more. Maybe that's all he wanted, she thought, the chase. Tony looked at Ziva rummaging through the victim's mail. He felt something when he saw her with Mathew, but he didn't know what it was or how to act. She was his partner for over three years and they had grown accustomed to each other. But now, something changed.

"I've seen this face before," Gibbs said coming next to Tony.

"What boss?" Tony asked snapping back from his preoccupied state.

"Nothing," Gibbs said as Palmer and Ducky walked in.

"I'm sorry we're late Jethro, but Mr. Palmer does not know how to read signs and directions." Palmer just smiled.

"Sorry," He said childishly.

"Oh, boy," Ducky said at the same time as Palmer, looking down at the bodies and holding his nose. "Mr. Palmer, now this is a bad smell and I think you need to get another gurney." Palmer ran out in a hurry glad to get away from the stench. Their arms were strewn haphazardly on the wooden floor, surrounded by a pool of blood. One was dressed in a red and blue pizza parlor uniform while the other was in a simple white cotton shirt and kaki cargo pants stained with red. Streams of blood rolled, in no particular pattern, from their head to the collection of blood below. The younger, pizza victims' eyes were closed, head on it's side, with a gun shot wound on the side of his head right above the ear, with a little blood collecting and clumping to his hair. The other, older victim, his eyes were open and crossed. Blood collected around the side of his eye, dripping to the floor as if he was crying blood. Ducky gently closed the victims' eyes and sighed as Palmer came in with another gurney. He and Palmer lifted the bodies onto the gurneys and rolled out, like a sorrowful routine. As they left, Tony looked at the blood pools.

"Hey boss," He said just as Gibbs was about to leave to check on McGee. "Look at the floor." On the floor, the was the already known blood pool, but near the door, where the bodies were laying, there were a few drops of blood and a small mark in the blood as if something was dragged through it. Tony followed the blood droplets outside the apartment only to have them stop at the mat right outside the door. With his latex covered hands, he lifted the mat and found another pool of blood, soaked into the carpet. "We got more blood boss," Tony said looking up and over his shoulder where Gibbs was standing.

"Who found the body?" Gibbs asked looking at a near by police officer. The police officer flipped through his notes.

"The neighbors complained about the smell so they called one of the mangers who opened up the apartment after the tenant didn't answer to door."

"Where's the manager now?"

"He left after one of us interviewed him. He said he had some work to do like calming down his other tenants."

"Ok. Do we have a name?"

"Sean Tagathon."

"Ok. We're going to need his full statement."

"Sure. No problem."

Back inside, Ziva was looking around the apartment. It was neat, a little too neat for a guy's apartment, she thought to herself. The DVD's were set in order. Cups, dishes and utensils were washed and put away, stacked neatly in their assigned cabinets and drawers. The bed was made, each sheet, blanket and comforter tucked away in layers, with the corners folded under with perfection. Clothes were folded neatly and placed in drawers and hung with dignity in the closet. The bathroom was clean, with a new refreshing scent of pinesol and towels were placed neatly in stacks on a shelf.

"Kind of weird isn't it?" McGee asked, "The apartment being so neat."

"I had the same feeling too. And nothing is out of place, nothing to take as evidence, not even an ID."

"Weird." McGee said as he turned around. He and Ziva entered back into the living room where Tony and Gibbs were waiting. "There's nothing boss, just like the other crime scene."

"Well then I just hope that Duck has something."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: VII

23/09/2008 20:05:00

Chapter 7: VII

"Abs, Duck said you have something for us?" Gibbs asked walking in with the rest of the team on his heels. He handed her another large drink filled with caffeine.

"Yes. The bullets found in both victims, including the crispy corpse, are made of the same material and are one in the same. They are also, a Federal issued type of bullets."

"So who ever, killed these people is or was a Federal agent? Can't we link the bullet to a certain gun then?" McGee asked.

"Love to, and tried, but the bullet doesn't match anything in the system."

"Anything else?"

"Yep. From the fingerprints I was able to confirm that the person dead, again, apparently had a name change and not the person they said they were." Abby said with a smile.

"Ok, so who is downstairs in our Morgue?"

"Jordan Anderson. The Serial Killer."

"Jordan Anderson," Ziva repeated, "As in the same Jordan Anderson everybody was trying to catch but never did."

"The serial transvestite killer?" McGee asked.

"Yes. That same Jordan Anderson."

"I knew he looked familiar," Gibbs said, "But with longer and different coloured hair."

"Well at least someone did us a favor getting him off the streets." Tony said.

"Wait that's not all." Abby said trying to get the teams attention.

"Michael David worked on his case on the killings found in Concord"

"Thanks Abs," Gibbs said as he began to leave.

"So," Tony said trying to piece together a few things, "The serial killer that Michael David was trying to catch is dead and so is Michael David and they both had their names changed."

"Yep," Gibbs said.

"So I guess that you want us to go and visit the Concord police?" Ziva asked with a smile.

"Yep."

"And I guess you want me to find what I can?" McGee asked.

"Yep." Gibbs smiled. He was happy that his team could read his mind.

--

"Well hello Lieutenant David," Ziva said coming up behind Mathew, after arriving at the Concord PD.

"Hi, Ziva, What brings you back here?"

"We need to ask you a few questions about one of your brother's old case." Tony said.

"Tony, nice to see you too," Mathew said shaking Tony's hand. "What case?"

"Jordan Anderson." Mathew stopped moving papers around on his desk.

"The transvestite serial killer?"

"Yes." Mathew cleared his throat.

"What do you want to know?"

"We would like the files and reports on the case." Ziva said.

"Sure. Just let me get them."

"You two seem friendly."

"Yes, that is all we are, Tony, friends."

"Sure."

"Is something wrong Tony?" She asked stepping closer.

"No," He said with a smile backing into Lieutenant David's desk. "Like I said before, I just don't think that he is your type."

"And like I asked before, how do you know what my type is?"

"Maybe someone who makes you smile and laugh," Tony said as he stood up, making Ziva back away a little.

"For your information, he does make me laugh."

"And how do you know that?"

"We went—" Ziva was cut off by Mathew coming in holding a box.

"Found it," He said. Ziva turned around.

"Thank you," She said with a smile, grabbing the box from his hands. Just as she passed Mathew, she turned around and glared at Tony. He smiled and shook Mathew's hand again.

"Nice to see you again," Tony said following Ziva. Mathew turned around. He felt like there was something going on between them, but he chose to ignore it and continued on with his work, before they came in.

While they were driving back to Manchester, Gibbs went to go and see the Director.

"I heard that you got a serial killer down in the Morgue." She said hanging up the phone.

"Yeah. We do."

"Looks like someone did us a favor."

"Or we another have another killer who wants us to think that. Our two cases, two bodies are connected. Our first victim was a cop working on the second victims' case."

"Really? 'Cause you know Jethro, it could just be a coincidence that your killer and the cop working on his case are both dead. I mean,--"

"I don't believe in coincidences," Gibbs, said cutting her off. With that he walked out the doors and back downstairs to his office. As soon as he got back down to his desk, his phone rang.

"Yeah. Ok Duck, coming right down."

--

"This case is getting weird Jethro." Ducky said as Gibbs entered the medical room.

"Ok, Duck what is it?"

"Well, as you probably know, our latest victim was the transvestite serial killer." Ducky said leading Gibbs to a cold metal slab where the body was laying in bright florescent light.

"Yeah."

"Well, see here, this is where it gets a little strange. Our victim here, had the outside appearance of a male and testosterone, but a piping of a female."

"Our victim was a transvestite?" Gibbs asked confused.  
"I'm afraid so, Jethro," Ducky said.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: VIII

Chapter 8: VIII

"What took you so long?" McGee asked as Tony and Ziva returned to the office.

"Traffic, McGee."

"Well you better do something before Gibbs comes back."

"Who better do something before Gibbs comes back, McGee?" Gibbs asked rounding the office corner.

"I… I was just," McGee stammered as he tried to find something to say.

"We got the reports, Boss," Tony said enthusiastically taking Gibbs' attention away from the bumbling McGee.

"What took you so long?" Gibbs said, always unsatisfied.

"Traffic." McGee said as he stopped stammering and smiled. Tony gave McGee a dirty look as McGee just smiled back.

"Would you like me to give you a treat Tony for coming back with reports?" Gibbs asked noticing Tony and McGee having a staring contest.

"No, I'm fine, Boss. Working on those reports right away," Tony said looking away and scrambling to open the box.

Few hours passed when McGee, Tony and Ziva finally finished looking through the Concord PD's reports and their own.

"Have you found anything yet?" Gibbs asked noticing that they were done reading over all the files.

"After reading Michael's report," McGee said, "I found out that the only reason why name only came apparent to the public when he left the only clue which was a fingerprint, right before he disappeared about a year ago and then I guess he went under ground."

"Also, here Michael looked at Jordan's phone records and noticed a couple calls to U.S. Senator William Conroy. He tried to talk to the Senator, but got nothing. Looking at his notes, I think that Michael thought the U.S. Senator was somehow involved." Tony added.

"Does his notes say anything about the interview?" Gibbs asked.

"No. Just says that the U.S. Senator wouldn't talk to him."

"Alright, Ziva, come with me. We are going to interview him. Tony, you work with McGee and try to find more. Oh and one more thing, Ducky said that Jordan Anderson, is a transvestite," Gibbs said as he gathered his badge.

"He's a what?"

"You heard me Tony. Now find out more. And McGee, try and get me a warrant to search his office."

Gibbs and Ziva drove down to Concord, to the Federal building where U.S. Senator William Conroy was staying on his break from their session in D.C.. Gibbs barged into his office.

"U.S. Senator Conroy, so nice to meet you."

"I'm sorry who are you?" Conroy asked, standing up, alarmed.

"Agent Gibbs, NCIS. We are here to ask you a few questions regarding the death of Michael David and Jordan Anderson." Gibbs said.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you Gibbs, but I am not allowing you to ask me any questions or even be in this office." Conroy said reaching to call his secretary. "Please have security in my office." He said.

"Call McGee," Gibbs whispered to Ziva at the same time. Ziva went into a corner of the office as she waited for McGee to pick up.

"Well, do you have a warrant?"

"No," McGee said disappointedly. As Ziva walked over to Gibbs, she listened to McGee tell her why they were not able to get the warrant.

"We didn't get it boss," Ziva whispered, "McGee said that, he asked Director Shepard for help who said that the judge wouldn't sign off on it because the judge called it circumstantial, but Director Shepard told McGee that she thinks that the judge doesn't want to be the one who released a warrant on one of New Hampshire's finest U.S. Senators."

"Damn it," Gibbs said softly as security entered the room.

"Sir, you are going to need to come with us." Security said coming near Gibbs.

"Wait, hold on. Senator, if you don't answer a few of our questions, it's going to seem like you have something to hide."

"Gibbs. You should know that every politician has something to hide." Conroy joked as Gibbs and Ziva were being pulled out of the room. "Let me just say this. I think that the person you are looking for is closer than you think."

"I think he is hiding something," Ziva said, as they were lead into an elevator.

"You think?"

As Gibbs and Ziva made their way back to the office, McGee and Tony were having a man-to-man talk.

"So what's going on between you and Ziva?" McGee asked.

"I don't know." Tony said with a shrug.

"I looks like there is something," McGee pressed.

"Maybe there is McGee. I don't know. All I know is that we better get working before Gibbs gets back. I'm pretty sure he's already pissed about not getting the warrant."

"Did you find anything?" Gibbs asked as he and Ziva walked back into the office around sunset.

"Nothing we didn't already know." Tony said.  
"Alright," Gibbs sighed, "Why don't you guys go home? It's been a weird and frustrating day." He said packing up himself.

"I think I'm going to stay a while longer," Ziva said.

"Alright," Gibbs said. "See you guys tomorrow."

"Yeah bye," Tony and McGee said as they both left. Ziva sat at her desk and rubbed her head. William Conroy was hiding something and she was going to find out.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: VIIII

05/10/2008 14:50:00

Chapter 9: VIIII

Ziva rubbed her eyes and took a sip of no nothing, straight black, coffee. Papers were scattered all over her desk, which had one lone lamp, providing the only light. The office was silent, but she had the soft sound of jazz playing in her ears through her MP3 player. "Take Five". It was one of her personal favourites. She popped a cinnamon mint into her mouth and looked over the papers some more. Something or rather somebody was missing. She flipped over a sheet of paper and drew on the back, just as Tony walked into the office.

"Working late or up early?" Tony asked with a coffee in his hand as Ziva took her headphones out of her ears.

"Haha."

"Did you eve go home last night?"

"I had a hunch and I couldn't go home or sleep. What are you doing here at," Ziva paused to check her watch, "At 3:47 in the morning?"

"I couldn't sleep either, but probably different reasons than you. Did you find anything following your hunch?" He asked pulling a chair next to her.

"I feel like I'm missing something."

"Well, what do you got so far?"

"So I felt that somehow, U.S. Senator Conroy was involved. And remember when you tried to look up more about him, you couldn't find much?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I kept on looking and digging and hacking… sort of." Ziva said with a slight smile, knowing that she broke a few laws. "And I finally got something viable. When Conroy was younger, he had a brother or shall I say a sister."

"Conroy's brother turned into a girl?"

"Yes. And the family felt like she brought shame so they disowned her and changed her name completely."

"So that explains hatred towards the transvestites. Did you find the sister? Can we talk to her?

"Yes and no. I found the sister; her name was Karra Clynne. The—"

"The first victim of Jordan Anderson." Tony said, connecting the dots himself. "Damn it." He said hitting his hand on her desk, seeing the window to get William Conroy slip away.

"Right, and Conroy hired Anderson to be an assassin, because he was in office and it would look bad in public."

"And that's how the two connect. But how did Conroy find Anderson?" Ziva pulled up a page on her computer.

"Old classmates at a small college, out of country, in Britain. Conroy only met Anderson in college, which explains why he didn't know that the assassin he hired was a transvestite himself. Now I don't know how he found out about Anderson's past, but he did, which explains him dead."

"What about Micahel?"

"I have a feeling that Conroy was forced into silence. And while he was supposed to be hiding, he decided to close up the case, which explains him calling Conroy just a few days before his death."

"So Conroy had him shut up."

"Yes exactly. Now here is where I am stumped. I don't know who is doing the killing and covering up for Conroy now."

"Well."

"I mean I have another hunch, but this one could definitely cost me my job."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I remembered what Conroy said when we tried to interview him, something about the person is right under our nose."

"And…"

"And well, I began to think and made a list of people Conroy knows and someone who we know."

"Wait, I just want to know, how come nobody else was able to find all this information?"

"I said I hacked and I mean really hacked, beyond the point where most people, even McGee, would stop."

"Why?"

"I need to solve this case."

"For Mathew?" Ziva looked up at Tony.

"No. For me. For my piece of mind." Ziva's and Tony's faces were now inches away from each other. She could smell his cologne. He could smell the faint scent of her perfume, partly masked by cinnamon and coffee. They leaned in a little closer. Their lips touched, ever so gently, until she pulled away.

"I'm sorry," she said backing away. "Excuse me, I, uh, need to go to the bathroom."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: X

Tony and Ziva were so into the case and each other, that they didn't notice Director Sheppard, watching from above. She had heard every word and followed Ziva into the bathroom.

"Director, I didn't know that you were in so early." Ziva said surprised and Jenny entered the bathroom.

"I like to get an early start," she lied. Ziva smiled and turned back to the mirror. She filled the sink with water, washed her face and took in a deep breath, not noticing Jenny pull out a Walther's PF 38 with a silencer from the small of her back, out from under her coat.

"I've been watching you Ziva," Jenny said as she touched the back of Ziva's head with the gun, "And it's too bad you solved the case, all by yourself." Ziva froze and put her hands up, leaving the faucet running. Her gun was at her desk.

"Then you should know that Tony is going to solve it too then."

"He won't."

"I've left him enough clues."

"Too, bad that it's all speculation." Jenny said with a small grin.

"Why?" Ziva asked looking in the mirror, directly into Jenny's eyes as water from the sink began to overflow.

"Because," Jenny said with a pause. And that moment, a fraction of a second, Jenny pulled the trigger and launched a bullet into the back of Ziva's skull. Ziva's hit her now lifeless head on the marble sink tops as she fell. Jenny caught her body before it made a splash in the water and laid Ziva down gently. Jenny pulled the trigger once more as she placed a security bullet in Ziva's head, next to her other shot and walked out of the bathroom. She avoided the office where Tony was waiting and carefully crept back into her own office. She looked at herself in the full-length mirror she had installed on the back of her door. Only her shoes were a little wet. She took them off to let them dry, went to her desk and leaned back in her chair. Business was taken care of.

Back in the office, Tony looked at his watch. Ziva had been gone in the bathroom for over 25 minutes and he decided to go and check on her. He knocked on the women's bathroom door. No answer, but he did hear the faucet running. He knocked again. And again no answer. He went in, carefully opening the door.

"Ziva are you alright?" He asked. He peered around the edge of the red door and was shocked at what he saw. "Ziva." He yelled running in, splashing water everywhere. He fell down beside her, rolled her over and placed her head in his arms as he swayed back and forth. Her long raven hair was wet and the white top she wore underneath her jacket was lightly stained with blood saturated in water. He didn't care that the bullet holes in the back of her head were releasing streams of blood onto his clothes body. He lifted one hand out from under her head and closed her eyes as he also cleared away stray strands of hair from her face.

Hours later, Abby walked into the bathroom and screamed as she saw Tony, covered in blood, holding Ziva in a pond of water.

"Gibbs!" She yelled as she ran to Tony, dialing Gibbs o her cell phone. "Tony what happened?'

"I don't know. We were working on the case together and she left to go to the bathroom and never came back, so I went to go and check on her when I found her like this." Tony said in one exasperating breath.

"Gibbs!" Abby yelled as he picked up.

"Yes Abby."

"Come to the bathroom now!" She yelled again as Gibbs lifted the phone off of his ear and hurried down to the bathroom. He burst in to see Tony and Abby crowding around Ziva's body.

"What happened?" He asked.

"We don't know," Abby said beginning to cry.

"Oh boy. Let me get Ducky and Palmer and McGee." Gibbs said laving the bathroom. Moments later he came back with Ducky who was followed with Palmer and a gurney and McGee.

"Oh, my," Ducky said very shocked. "What happened here?"

"Nobody knows," Gibbs answered.

"Abby, Tony," Ducky said coming near them, "Can you please step away.

"Abby," Gibbs said.

"But Gibbs,"

"Abby please,"

"But--,"

"I know. Come on." Gibbs said taking her hand and leading her out of the bathroom, past a small crowd of agents that began to form.

"Come on, Tony," McGee said, offering Tony a hand.

"I can't leave her McGee."

"I know Tony. Come on, you can sit at her desk and bask in her memory." Tony gently put Ziva down and grabbed McGee's hand.

"I'm sorry, Ziva," Ducky said kneeling beside her as the edges of his white medical coat and pants soaked in the red water. "I really was hoping I would never see you on my table." He paused and gave her a moment of silence. "Mr. Palmer, would you do me a regrettable favor and help me lift Ziva onto the gurney?"

"Of course Ducky," Palmer said with a long face.

Tony entered their office and immediately went and sat down in Ziva's chair. He put his head between his hands and sighed as a few tears dropped from his eyes, soiling the papers below.

"Hey, Tony," McGee said coming behind him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know who could have done this?"

"No."

"Ok, well Gibbs just want me to clear your name off the list."

"My gun was in my desk the whole time. It's clean as a whistle. And I was here the whole time."

"Where is her gun?"

"I don't know. Was it not on her?"

"No."

"Then check her desk." McGee collected her gun and Tony's and took it down to Abby's lab.

"She's alive in our memory," Gibbs said trying to comfort Abby.

"But I want her here, alive." Abby said sadfully as tears rolled down her face. Gibbs sighed as McGee walked in.

"I have their guns."

"Why?" Abby asked, "Why do we need to check their guns?"

"It's just protocol Abby. I'm sure everything will check out." Abby grabbed the guns from McGee and quickly ran tests on them. Both guns checked out ok. None had been fired recently.

"See, Tony is telling the truth."

"I never said he wasn't." Gibbs said as Jenny walked in.

"What has happened here?" She asked.

"Ziva was shot in the bathroom."

"She what?" Jenny asked pretending to be shocked.

"She's dead!" Abby exclaimed as more tears gushed down her face.

"Aw Abby, I'm so sorry to hear this," Jenny said as she went to go and hug Abby.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"You can be the director and do all the other stuff. Let us handle this," Gibbs said.

"You sure?"

"Yes." Gibbs said as Jenny turned to leave. Fine with me she thought to herself.

As the day went on, news about Ziva's death got out.

"What are we going to do boss?" McGee asked looking at Tony, who was in the same stale position. "We've dusted for prints and got every woman in the department as suspect."

"Tony." Gibbs said in a whisper.

"Yeah but doesn't know a thing."

"He thinks that he doesn't know a thing. Just try and talk to him and give him the guns backs."

"Alright," McGee said as he walked over to Tony.

"Hey, are you better?" He asked placing the two guns on the table.

"She's gone McGee."

"Yeah Tony, I know. But can you provide us with anything, to maybe catch her killer?" Tony tried. He tried to focus on the case but all he could remember was their last moments together. The case, he thought with a jump-start.

"Tony?" McGee asked a little shocked at Tony's jumpy movements. Tony shuffled papers around on Ziva's desk and awoke her computers from their sleep. He read notes scribble every which way on the papers. She has to have left me something, Tony thought scanning everything. He was looking for a list, the list she had potential suspects on. "Tony are you alright?"

"Fine McGee, just fulfilling her last wish." He went through every paper and every drawer or compartment in her desk. "Damn it." He said hitting his hands on the table with frustration. He wanted to give her peace, so he could have his and all he needed was the list, the list he couldn't find. As he hit his hands on the table, Ziva's MP3 player rattled on the desk. The MP3 player, Tony thought. It was one of the many things she loved and he knew that. He grabbed the player. He smiled when he noticed that she was listening to the jazz song "Take Five". It was one of his favourite songs too.


	11. Author's Note

Author's Note:

Now I know that most of you are upset that I KILLED Ziva. In reality I am a huge TIVA fan, but I for the continuation of the story I needed to kill her off. But don't worry, she isn't quite dead as you all think. PLZ keep reading and reviewing.

1heart1chance


	12. Chapter 11

A/N: Woah I never realized that this is the end. Well to those who read my experimental fic thanks! Your comments and replies were much love. Although the story is done, COMMENTS are still welcome! Well… see you around! Thanks for reading!

Chapter 11: XI

He played it as he searched every play list for a clue. Then he came across the play list titled unknown. He smiled as he saw a list of names. He scrolled down looking at all the names and the frowned as he saw one that was all too familiar. He looked up at her office and then ran out.

"Where you going?" McGee called after him.

"I'll be back." Tony kept the highlighted cursor on one name as he rode the elevator down to the parking lot. This morning when he came in, it was barren, but now there were cars filling every stall. But early this morning, he saw something, but didn't think too much of it. Jenny Shepard's car was in the lot when he arrived. He walked over to where the car was and examined it.

"She was here." He said, noticing the director's emblem on the lower right hand corner of her back window. He looked down at the MP3 player. Jenny Shepard's name was highlighted. He ran to the parking lot attendants box and banged on his window, getting his attention.

"Was Jenny Shepard here at 3:15 in the morning?" Tony asked estimating the time when Ziva was murdered. The attendant looked at his papers.

"According to this, she never left."

"Thanks," Tony said running back to catch the elevator going back up. He knew that the director lived far, so there was no way that she could have walked home. He tapped his foot as he waited for the elevator to slowly rise to level 4. At the same time, Jenny took at the stairs down to the parking lot when she received a call.

"I hear one of your agents got shot, today in the department bathroom." The manly voice said.

"I had too, she knew too much." Jenny said.

"I don't care, I didn't even want them to get close at all. I can't have another investigation somehow tying back to me."

"I'm sorry Conr--," Jenny didn't even finish her explanation before the phone on the other side hung up. She sighed deeply as she slid into a midnight blue C- Class, C350 Sport Sedan, Mercedes Benz, with a different license plate than before and exited from the parking lot.

"Where's director Shepard?" Tony asked after coming out of her empty office.

"I don't know," McGee said with a shrug, still clueless on what Tony was doing, "She might have left. Why?"

"What are you doing Tony?" Gibbs asked entering the office, seeing Tony in a frantic mode.

"I think that Director Shepard is involved with the case somehow and I think she shot Ziva."

"Tony, why would you say such a thing?"

"Look, this morning Ziva ran me through and left me the missing piece and I know that Director Shepard didn't leave all night. So she could have over heard and killed Ziva when she went to the bathroom."

"Look, Tony," Gibbs said, "I know you're distressed, but you can't go blaming the Director of NCIS on circumstantial evidence and claims."

"Claims!" Tony exclaimed. "Ziva was on to her and I think that she got killed for it!"

"Tony calm down."

"You don't believe me." Tony said backing away.

"We do, we just need more evidence." Tony sat at this desk and buried his head in his hands again. He then stood up and walked out of the office.

"Where you going Tony?"

"I need to think. Clear my head." He lied.

"Good idea," McGee said calling after him. Tony got down to the parking lot, slipped into his Firecracker red Dodge Charger and raced out, heading in the director of Jenny Shepard's house. Little did he know, he wouldn't be the only one there. He raced along the highway praying to get there in time, by placing a blue siren on the top of his hood. As he entered suburbia, he turned his siren off and placed it back into his car. He rolled by Jenny's house, just as she was entering her house, sticking a gun out his window, as a parked car on the side of the road did the same. Both had a silencer attached.

Jenny Shepard, unlocked the dead bolt on her house and began to twist the doorknob when a bullet entered her body and another skimmed her ear and lodge its smashed self in her wooden door. Her body fell on her porch as blood leaked from her back onto the cement, flowing down the steps like a waterfall. She gasped for a breath as her heart slowed down. She tried to reach for her phone but she didn't have enough energy. Jenny Shepard laid almost lifelessly, with no one coming to her aid, face down in the sun, as each throbbing pulse, release more blood out of her body.

A/N: Well as I finished writing this story, I felt as if it was incomplete. So depending on the replies, I might write a prequel. We'll see. Thanks again for reading!


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